When the Party's Over
by amaretto and coke
Summary: A friend comes to a realization about Stacy, based on her expulsion from the Fashion Club and her subsequent odd behavior. Complete.
1. The joy of regular cola

Stacy Rowe gulped as she entered the main doors of Lawndale High. This past weekend, she had been part of a quadruple date with Sandi, Quinn and Tiffany. And somehow, some way, despite much careful preparation, she had managed to wreck it. At least, that's what Sandi had informed her in a spluttering confrontation immediately following said date. 

Upon further reflection, Stacy found that she could not remember much of what Sandi was talking about. She did remember the anguish in Quinn's eyes that occasionally sneaked past a face of indifference, and Tiffany's pained expression. She tried a little harder, but only recalled accusations of "cups de tates" and uprisings, or something akin to it. 

She frowned. Must have been because she wore her hair down. Well, damn it, it was up now. In the standard braids, which were perfectly smooth and silky. Maybe it was the severely understated makeup? She had only wanted to try it, just once, just to let everyone see what she looked like minus the Max Factor. Her date had been pleased. So had everyone else's dates and indeed, 2/3 of the Fashion Club. In fact, it seemed very much as if the only person displeased was Sandi Griffin.

And there she stood at the end of the main hallway, speaking in her disdainful voice to the other two members of the Fashion Club. As their secretary approached, she looked up and all but snarled, "So glad you could join us, Stacy. I'm quite sure that you enjoy activities with your _friends,_ don't you?"

"Sure," the quieter girl said, uncertainly.

"And since _our_ date on Saturday went so very well, thanks to a _certain_ member of the Fashion Club wanting to hog the spotlight, we as a group have decided that _you_ are entirely qualified to teach the more…disadvantaged students about proper etiquette on dates."

Quinn's shoulders slumped. Tiffany looked vaguely uncomfortable. But they both remained silent. Stacy, for her part, was merely confused.

"Stacy Rowe, until further notice, you are on probation from the Fashion Club. You will turn in your official pink secretary's notebook with all pertinent information to the president immediately."

She didn't bawl, scream, or faint, even though this had been a recurring nightmare since the beginning of her sophomore year. Instead, with a gesture that could not be mistaken for anything except relief, she deftly tossed the flamingo-pink binder to Sandi, who clumsily dropped it, and walked away in search of a can of non-diet soda.

Class was nearly over. And Stacy needed ideas on how to prepare for the 'hooomecoming party – that is, of course, completely voluntary' that Mrs. Li was currently announcing through the tinny intercom. Having been summarily relieved of her duties of copying the tirades between Sandi and Quinn _verbatim_, she now needed to go shopping. Alone. After all, a school dance was fast approaching, and social engagements really didn't stop for personal crises such as being dumped from your own special clique.

Although she was mildly concerned about how to find a date without the guidance of Sandi, she knew that there were guys at school who weren't quite as in demand to necessitate much effort. A few winks of the eye, a sweet smile – not 'hussy' sweet, though, and bam – date officially set. However, to _really_ show capability, she might need to snag a guy more popular than she currently was _now._ The guy had to be slightly more in demand than the girl. Balance was the key to the universe. She'd heard that somewhere.

Upon trying to actually remember which guys were popular enough for her to go with, and yet not _so_ popular that they were now out of her league as a disgraced Fashion Club member, Stacy found herself in a nasty dither. 

James Carmichael. Cute, but popularity way down since wrecking the Lexus. 

Harry Silverton. Not cute in the conventional way, but quite rich and supposedly getting a Navigator for nothing in particular. Popularity on the rise. 

Mase Trundle. Very cute_ and_ tattooed with a thorny rose. Oooh, dangerous. Medium popularity due to oddly shaped earlobes. 

Alex Lufton. Cute, popular, but had a rep for unnecessary giggling in certain situations. Questionable.

Randy Bloomington. Cute in a more nerdy way. Was rumored to have money. Was also rumored to have another green substance elsewhere on his person that wasn't _nearly_ as charismatic. Sandy tore her list to shreds.

She pondered the thought of simply trying to go alone. Of course, it wasn't what the popular people did. But maybe she could handle being mildly unpopular. She always seemed to be the third string member of the group, the one that the guys went to when Quinn was just a little too unavailable and Sandi was being just a little too capricious and Tiffany was going through her "seriously fat" stage that seemed to last all month long.

Before she could attempt a new list, the bell rang and she decided that now was a good time to find a way to get to the mall from school. Yes, she could just go on home and borrow her one of her parents' cars. But wouldn't now be a perfect opportunity to try out her newly found confidence and test the ever-changing waters of popularity? She could just ask one of the three J's to give her a ride. The one with the black hair was sitting two chairs over from her. She leaned over and whispered, "Jamie."

"I'm Joey," he hissed back. "And anyway, I'm not supposed to be talking to you."

Her eyes widened, but only a little; pop eyes weren't fashionable. "Says who?"

"Says Sandi. She says you're totally into dating geeks now. So you must be turning into a brain, and I don't talk to brainy chicks." 

Stacy scratched her head. She was pretty sure that her past date was actually quite non-geeky, and that she was in actuality very much mot a brain at all, but if she couldn't get a ride with one of the second-tier football players, she might actually be forced to drive herself to the mall. So she shrugged, said, "Okay, thanks," and left. Joey watched her leave, then tossed a note to Quinn, who was just passing by. The contents of the note as pertaining to Stacy are summarized as follows:

__

Hey,

She took it really well. Is there something about that date that Sandi doesn't know?

I luvvvvv uuuuuu!!!!!! Joey 

Stacy went to lunch and ate outside for the first time ever, sitting under a tree. The cool breeze ruffled her braids and impulsively, she undid them, deciding that she wanted to feel the breeze in her hair at least once in a while.

A bird was singing quite merrily nearby. She wondered that she had never heard it before, until she recalled that she had always been bombarded with either music or conversation. It was definitely a change of pace to be left to her thoughts, and she actually did have a few rumbling through her head apart from the dance and her waning popularity. Such as a book that she needed to read for her literature class. She looked at the syllabus for the first time since the semester had begun and located the current week. 

"'Raisin in the Sun.' Why would we be learning about fruit in that class?" 

Intrigued all the same, she finished her sandwich and another non-diet soda and marched off directly to the library, failing to notice that Tiffany was keeping a watchful eye on her from the last window of the cafeteria.

As soon as Sandi finished giving her opinion on tomorrow's weather and how they could coordinate their outfits to match the sky, Tiffany leaned over to Quinn and whispered cautiously, "Y'know, Stacy doesn't seem real upset about all of this."

The younger Morgendoffer nodded. "She must know something we don't. By the way, don't you think that she was really cute on Saturday?"

"Yeah, she was _really_ cute."

"Why is Sandy so mad, then?"

But just then, Sandy returned, and the conversation was postponed until they could safely talk about her behind her back. 

****

Author's Notes: Upon reading several of the submitted pieces and feedback reviews in the 'Daria' section at FF.net, I became aware that 

1)'Daria' writers are pretty serious about their established canon, and

2)Clichés usually don't go over well, even in parody.

I'm not quite sure how badly 'Fashion Club member is booted/Fashion Club member turns out to be an intelligent young lady' has been beaten to death, considering that I'm quite late to the party, but I've always liked Stacy Rowe and thought that she deserves more respect than she got…hopefully this got across in the first part. Feedback, both positive and constructively criticism are of course appreciated.


	2. Dancing with herself

The day had finally ended and having decided to drive herself to the mall, Stacy ventured onto the school bus. She had begun to read _A Raisin in the Sun_ and found that she enjoyed it enough to want to finish it. She sat by herself, an unprecedented move, and pulled the book out of her backpack, much to the scorn of several freshmen that sat nearby.

"Oh, my god!" one said in a pale imitation of Sandi's standard voice. "Isn't that…Stacy Rowe? I thought she was in the Fashion Club! So, like, Stacy, are the Fashion Club members taking _brains_ now?" There was mean laughter from a few people and Stacy set her book down, annoyed. "How old are you, 14? Shouldn't you have moved up from the kindergarten insult level by now?"

"Ooooh," said a few different voices, and the girl took the bait. "Oh, what, you're supposed to have a spine now? You ought to change your name to 'Doormat', since you let everyone walk on you anyway. But gee, I guess you didn't get the chance, seeing how they kicked you out before you could."

"Yes, and as I recall –" Stacy looked the girl full in the face at this point, "- you never could make it in, Chelsea. Something about 'dressing like a hooker', right? Correct me if I'm wrong."

Face flaming, the girl backed off after tossing out a generic barb. Stacy picked up her book again and tried to keep reading. She decided that she liked Ruth the best.

After a quick haggle with her mother, Stacy was able to finagle the car keys away from her mother after promising to stop by the grocery store after she went to the mall. _It was never this easy before,_ she thought. For the first time that she could remember, she didn't want to listen to the radio. She was thinking about Walter's ill-planned scheme to get a liquor license. "It's almost like something Sandi would do."

She wandered into Cashman's, idly twisting a deep honey-colored lock around her finger. It was early enough in the evening for her to catch the end of an early-bird sale, although she wasn't certain as to why she knew that. No one in the Fashion Club would have been caught dead attending one of _those_ sales; those were for people who couldn't afford first-rate prices.

All the same, she was well aware that she was shopping a sale, and it didn't bother her too much once she stopped thinking about it. Strolling towards the junior's section, a glint of rich, shimmering gold caught her eye.

It was a full-length gown. Even at this distance, she knew that it would match her hair perfectly and set off her eyes just right. 

It was beautiful. She had a pair of shoes that she had never worn because she didn't have anything to wear them with, thanks to Sandi. They would easily complement this gown.

It was in her size. And there seemed to be only one more of this particular design.

It was on sale.

Stacy hesitated. She had never bought anything at less than full price before…

…but the gown hugged her just so when she slithered into it and it wasn't terribly low-cut and it didn't make her feel trashy and cheap and besides, it really _really_ looked good on her, especially when her hair was down.

She left Cashman's shortly thereafter, feeling as if she had really accomplished something worthwhile. While it was true that she had done little beside buy a piece of clothing on her own, she was happy about it, and for the moment, it was enough.

Grocery shopping wasn't terribly difficult either, she was finding. Nearly done with the list, she pushed the basket into the coffee aisle and nearly hit Charles Ruttheimer in the behind.

"Hey babe," he said, a nasty leer popping out. "I know you want to give it to me, but not in public, okay?"

"Sorry," she said absentmindedly, causing him to double take. "Aww, why so down, toots? No date for the big dance? It _is_ only two days away. But of course you knew that."

"Yeah," she said in the same vacuous voice. But she began to pay attention once the red headed boy slid up next to her. "So Stace, I hear they kicked you out of Fashion Club and that you're starting to do your homework. What's up with that? You turning your back on the popular folks?"

She hadn't thought about it in that light. Was she, indeed walking away from everything that she had grown up on since she had turned eleven? 

"Stacy." His voice gained her focus instantly. Having lost the ever-present rumble of lechery, it actually sounded masculine. "Did you heard what I said?"

"Not really. Say it again, please?" She looked closely at him for the first time in…for the first time, and was startled to find herself looking into a pair of tawny eyes. _Nice color,_ she thought.

"I asked you if you would go to the Homecoming Dance with me."

"Uh, sure." The words were out before she had thought about her popularity, the opinions of her friends, or any other potential dates. In short, she had made a snap decision, which she had not done since leaving grade school. She felt her cheeks begin to burn.

Charles looked equally flustered, as if he hadn't even envisioned a positive answer. "Okay, cool," he managed to stammer out before grabbing a bear-shaped jar of honey and leaving her alone to stare at 45 different variations on the coffee bean.

The phone rang at the Morgendorfer house approximately once every fifteen minutes, and over 80% of those calls were for the youngest member. This latest call was no exception, and after directing the call to her room, Quinn flopped down on her canopy bed and examined the shoddy state of her toenail polish while merrily chirping, "Hello."

"Hi Quinn, it's Tiffany."

"Oh, hi. What's up, emergency meeting?"

"I don't think that we'll have any more until we get another secretary."

"Really." Quinn let go of her foot momentarily and stretched. "And why is that?"

"We're supposed to be looking for another candidate at the dance on Friday."

Quinn frowned. "Isn't Stacy coming back?"

"I haven't talked to her all day today. Sandi says she hasn't called. Has she called you?"

"No. Oh yeah, weren't you going to tell me why Sandi was so mad on Saturday?"

Tiffany sighed, a noise that Quinn knew was being accompanied by a cocking of the head. It was just a bad habit that Tiffany had adopted in an attempt to look serious. "You can't tell Sandi that I told."

"Tiffany, come on. You know me better than that."

"Okay." The other girl took a deep breath and began. "Sandi says she was mad because her date came late, and he didn't pay much attention to her. It was like 'she wasn't good enough for him'. At least, that's why she _said _she was mad. But," here Tiffany's voice dropped, as if she was in a position to be overheard, "she told me later than her hair was completely fried, because her hairdresser was out sick and she had to see a new one, and her streaks came out all wrong. And after spending almost 80 bucks on all new makeup, Stacy went with a really simple look, and looked so much better than she did. And then everyone was saying how pretty Stacy was and – well, you know the rest."

All this time, Quinn had had a smile on her face, which steadily grew more evil. "Ahh. She was jealous."

"Yeah. And then Sandi's date didn't call her back, so by today –"

"She was pissed," Quinn finished.

"Yeah."

Quinn was silent for a moment, thinking about something else that had eluded her grasp. "But y'know, this doesn't explain why Stacy isn't mad. Joey said that she's acting weird. She was paying attention in class and everything."

"Is she turning into a brain?" the Asian girl drawled. The two girls considered it for a few seconds.

"It's gotta be a phase," Quinn finally decided.

"It's definitely a phase," Tiffany agreed. They then left Stacy behind to talk about hem lengths. After all, secretary or no secretary, the dance was still in two more days. 

The next morning, Stacy woke up and finished getting ready so early that she opted to walk to school. She was halfway into _A Raisin in the Sun_, and full of questions that she wanted to ask her teacher. After class, of course. She hadn't quite worked up enough nerve to ask questions aloud.

An engine purring alongside of her popped those pleasant reveries into bubbles of indistinct thought. The driver rolled down the passenger window and hissed, "Stacy! Get in, quick!"

She looked. It was the blond-haired member of Quinn's trio. A mildly worried frown began to play around her lips. "Why?"

The boy looked anxious, as he was afraid to be there. "Just get in, will ya?"

Her expression grew even more pensive, but curiosity got the better of discretion and she opened the door, sliding across the seat. The boy didn't look at her as he pulled away from the curb. "I wasn't sure if that was you. I don't normally go to school this early, but they called an emergency meeting for the team." He finally gave her a glance as they stopped as a light. "What the heck were you walking for?"

"I just felt like it." He gave her a puzzled look, and she regarded him with an equally confused expression. "What's the big deal?"

"Thought maybe your car had busted or something. Hey, is it okay if I drop you off before I park? Like, near the cafeteria or something?" He didn't allow her to ask why before continuing. "I'm not really supposed to be talking to you, y'know."

"Why are you giving me a ride, then?"

"Well, I dunno, y'know? Like, you're just…" He thought for a minute before giving up. "You know, you're all…well, _you_ know."

"Unpopular?" she ventured.

"No!" he said quickly, but his shoulders slumped after a moment and she knew the truth. "Well, kinda."

The day passed even more quickly than yesterday, despite her slippery slide down the popularity scale. Her teacher seemed quite surprised by her sudden interest in schoolwork, and answered her questions with a good will, despite the glaring stupidity of some of them. "You mean there was a time when women _weren't_ doctors? What did they do all day, then?"

"They stayed at home," Mrs. Powell answered. 

"Wow! It's just like today!" Stacy exclaimed, not noticing her teacher barely restraining a chuckle.

Lunch was a quiet affair. She ate her homemade BLT outside and listened to the wind blow the leaves about, and thought about how lovely that dress was, and how she probably wouldn't have found it if she had been with the Club, because the President and the Veep would have been fighting over eyeshadow and they would have likely not gone to the mall at all because the Treasurer felt fat. But she had gotten there before 5 p.m. and managed to snag it up. Whoever came up with the idea of "sales" was a pretty smart person. The sun felt warm on her closed eyelids.

All too soon the bell interrupted her placid thoughts and she began to prepare for the last four classes of the day. A note that lay on her backpack caught her eye, but she slipped it into her pocket and didn't think about it again until the end of the day, when its folded corner poked her hip. Surprised, as she had completely forgotten that anything was in her pocket, she pulled it out to read:

__

Hang in there. The big night is tomorrow.

It wasn't signed, but she knew that handwriting, and a tiny grin quirked at the side of her mouth. She tore it into fragments, lest prying eyes and inquiring minds proved too much of a temptation for certain others.

****

Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long. Work beckoned and that's pretty hard to ignore. Moving right along…the denouement shall be upon us all shortly.


	3. Little girl found

__

April 29, 20xx

Dear Diary,

I am SO EXCITED!! The absolute hottest guy in the junior class came up to me today and said that I looked great at the Homecoming Dance, which was so cool, b/c I couldn't stand my date. Someone shoot me if I ever go anywhere in public w/ Kerry Schroeder EVER AGAIN!! I hate him!! 

Anyway, let me tell you about the dance. It was at the nicest hotel in town, in the ballroom. Omg, it was so pretty. They actually hired professional decorators and the whole thing was catered. I mean, the food was SO fattening, but who can resist baked potato skins? I'm gonna need about forty extra minutes on the Stairmaster to get rid of that junk. But anyway…the theme was 'Rhapsody in Blue' and everyone who walked in got blue tulips. They are SO PRETTY!! My date held mine for me almost the whole night…but that was the least he could do, since he made me late. I don't know how I ended up on such a losing streak with guys lately. But speak of the devil…Stacy actually had the nerve to go to the dance w/Upchuck. I couldn't believe she really did it! I knew forever ago that she wanted to go with him, but she couldn't…blah blah blah, FC member, lose popularity, on and on. But I finally got her to see that if she could bluff her way out of the club for a couple of days she could go w/him and then get back into the club once the H.D. was over. And then she hugged me so hard that I couldn't breathe and told me that if I'd help her, she'd be so grateful. And of course then I had to say yes.

When she first came to me and told me all about her crazy crush on grody ol' Upchuck, I didn't even laugh at her. I'm so serious, Diary. Normally I would've picked on her 'til she cried. But her eyes were shining when she told me and her cheeks were all pink and she looked so nervous and I just couldn't do anything but promise to help her. And when she made her entrance last night, on HIS arm…you talk about every guy in the room taking notice. Even MY stupid date turned and stared like an idiot and wanted to know if I knew who THAT girl was…geez, what crap timing! And I could barely even recognize Upchuck. He had his hair cut short and he was growing a goatee. I guess I can sort of see why Stacy thought he was sort of cute. I mean, he's not gonna be threatening Skyler's position as class stud by any means, but still he was looking pretty good in a tux that actually fit him. I was so surprised, I thought he was gonna embarrass her by being a complete dork. But he paid attention to her all night and got her food for her and held the door for her and was so super romantic, I could hardly keep from grinning at her. But I didn't get a chance to get her alone all night long, so we had to settle for a phone call afterwards. I asked her if she had liked her date, and she was just gushing over him, how he had picked her up in a convertible and how they had slipped out of the hotel for about half an hour and walked on the beach and tried to count the stars but they got dizzy from looking up for so long. I mean, HELLLOOO!! The girl is clearly in love. But when I asked her if they were gonna get serious and go steady, she laughed at me and told me it was just one date and that I should lighten up a little. I guess she's right, I do take real dating very seriously. I guess Stacy's just different, though I've known that for some time. It makes me wonder if the FC's gonna change when she comes back, or if she's coming back at all. It's all over school how's she starting to study and do homework, and that'd be kind of weird if she were to come back and be sort of a brain. I don't think that she'd turn into that weird gloomy chick in the army jacket, but maybe she'd be kind of like Jodi. I guess that wouldn't be too bad, b/c Jodi's kind of cool, even if she's real smart. But I think she'll be back , and we can all play this game for a little bit longer. I mean, we're all gonna graduate in just two more years, and then we prolly won't even go to the same colleges, so we won't even see each other again.

But I'm really glad that she had so much fun on her date. And I'm even more glad that she came to me, of all people, to help her out. No one ever has to know that she deliberately quit FC just so she could go to a dance with a geeky guy that she liked. And I told her that I'd help her again, if she ever wanted to go with him again. I think that I make a good secret keeper.

She looked over the entry and dotted just one more _i,_ before locking up the diary and hiding it securely in a box labeled "Salvation Army". No one else in the Fashion Club would dare touch such a thing, and her mother was kind enough to give her some privacy when it came to her room. Satisfied with her hard day's…no, _hard week's_ worth of work (after all, maintaining such a complex deception for five whole days was _draining!)_, Sandi Griffin plopped into her bed and flipped off the lights.


End file.
